Uncurler guide for cup feed sewing machines



Dec. 2, 1952 Q E SHA 2,619,923

UNCURLER GUIDE FOR CUP FEED SEWING MACHINES Filed July 13, 1951 31 4 25 155% U U W W! W WNW a 21 21 J2 l N V EN TOR: arliefiofieriZeS/m,

BY gig zgg A TTORNEYS.

Patented Dec. 2,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

UNCURLER GUIDE FOR GUI? FEED. SEWING MACHINES.

Charlie Robert De Sha, Chattanooga, Tenn.

Application-July 13, 1951,.Seria1No. 236,536.

This invention relates to. uncurler guides for cup feed sewing machines of the type commonly used inseaming together the longitudinal selvage edges of; knitted full fashioned stocking blanks and the like. In addition to a pair of spring-urged hinged components for clamping the edge margins of the stocking fabric against opposite side faces of a central blade component, such uncurler guides have a pin with projection beyond opposite sides of said blade component which serves as a gauge means incident to directing the selvages to the stiching needle as said edges are drawn forward by the pull of the feed cups of the machine. In uncurler guides, as ordinarily constructed, the gauge pin is rigidly secured in the blade component and therefore fixedly positioned relative to the needle of the machine. Accordingly difficulty is experienced in obtaining straight and uniform seams since, for example, if the fixed setting of the uncurler guide be correct for the seaming of the heavier reinforced portions of the stocking such as the welt, heel, sole and toe, a great deal more of material of the thinner leg portions than is necessary is gathered into the seam, whereby the latter is rendered correspondingly bulky, uneven, and therefore unsightly.

My invention is directed in the main toward overcoming the above mentioned drawback. This objective is realized in practice as hereinafter more fully disclosed, through provision of an uncurler guide in which the gauge pin is yieldingly supported by the blade component with capacity to rise and fall between prescribed limits as the fabric is controlled by the operator, so that the selvage edges can be more accurately directed to the needle of the sewing machine, and that allowance can be made as the sewing proceeds, for differences in the thickness of said edges in different portions of the stockings.

Other objects and attendant advantages will appear from the following detailed description of the attached drawings, wherein Fig. l is a fragmentary view, in front elevation, of a cup feed sewing machine with an uncurler guide conveniently embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view of the organization in side elevation as seen from the left of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an exploded View of the component parts of the guide.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view of the guide in vertical section taken as indicated by the angled arrows IV--IV in Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a view like Fig. 4 showing a different operating condition of the guide.

3 Claims. (Cl. 112-20) 2, Insofaras it is delineated in Figs. 1 and 2, the sewing machineis Of well known construction, a portion of itsfrarne beingindicated at [0, and its feed cups at H and I2 After common practice, the cups H and [:2 are afiixed to the lower ends ofshafts. I53; and" M which arecomplementally rotated to draw between them horizontally asindicatedby the arrows in Fig. 2 the marginal edges of the fabric thickness F and F" to; be united. The needle designated 15 cooperates as usualwith a looper or loopers (not shown) of'the machine in the seaming. A I

improved'uncurler g i e is likewise generally of standard construction in that itcomprises a central upright blade or tongue component [6 of boot like configuration. Atthetop, the component I6 is secured to a short arm i! at one end of a horizontal shaft I8 supported in a bearing bracket [9 on frame l0, said shaft being rotatable by means of a lift finger 2D to retract the guide from the normal position in which it is illus trated when access to the feed cups II and I2 is required. During the seaming, the fabric selvages are held to opposite sides of the foot portion of the blade component I8 by the usual similarlyconfigured uncurler wing components 2! which are hingedly connected to said blade component, and which are yieldingly maintained in clamping engagement with the latter by a spring 22 in compression between their top or manipulating ends 23.

Instead of being fixed in the blade component it as heretofore in the prior art, in accordance with my invention, the gauging element 0 pin indicated at 25, is accorded the capacity to move up and down within a vertically-arranged slot 26 in said blade component. As best shown in Fig. 3, the slot 26 has the configuration of a key hole with an eye at the top thereof of a diameter which will permit introduction of the pin 25 in assembling. The straight bottom portion of the slot 26 is of a width to snugly receive the diametrically-reduced medial portion 25a of the pin 25 with a sliding fit, said pin being thus held in assembly without the need of special or additional retaining means. The clearance holes 21 in the clamping component 2| are made sufiiiciently large to allow movement of the gauging pin 25 as aforesaid. A pair of bow springs 28 of relatively light wire act downwardly upon opposite ends of pin 25 to normally maintain the latter yieldingly at the bottom of the slot 26. As best shown in Fig. 3, the anchorage ends of the springs 28 are secured by set screws 29 in receiving apertures 39 adjacent opposite ends of a bar 3| afiixed transversely of the blade component It by a screw 32 (Fig. 2). It is to be understood that, in practice, the uncurler guide is set so that the gauge pin 25, when in the bottom of slot 26, is properly aligned with the stitching means of the machine for the smallest part of the seam, with said pin just clearing the bottoms of the apertures in the clamp components 2 I.

Operation As the selvages of the fabric are drawn into the machine by the feed cups H, I2 under control of the operator, the clamp components 2| function in the usual way to flatten out the curls at said edges before the latter pass between said cups and are stitched by the needle [5. During advance of the thinner portions of the fabric, the operator gauges the selvage edges with the pin 25 all the way down and resting at the bottom of the slot 28 in component It as shown in Fig. 4, and as the thicker portions of the fabric come along, said pin will rise under the yielding action of the springs 28 as far as permitted by the apertures 21 in the clamp components 2!, as shown in Fig. 5. As a consequence of this construction and arrangement, it is obviously possible to determine formation of seams which are straight and devoid of bulkiness alon the thinner united portions of the fabric.

As will be readily understood by those skilled in the use of cup feed sewing machines, my improved uncurler guide is not limited in its use to the seaming of hosiery but is equally applicable, with attainment of the advantages hereinbefore pointed out, in uniting the edges of any other flat knitted fabric.

Having thus described my invention, I cl aimi 1. An uncurler guide for cup feed sewing machines comprising a flat central blade component which is normally supported in fixed relation vertically of the feed cups; a pair of hinged fabric clampin uncurler components springurged toward opposite side faces of the blade component; a gauge element constrained to up and down movement within a vertical slot in the blade component; and yielding means for normally maintaining the gauge element depressed in the slot with capacity to rise and fall as superposed fabric edges are directed through the machine.

2. An uncurler guide according to claim 1,. wherein the gauge element is in the form of a pin with a diametrically-reduced portion slidingly fitting the slot in the blade component.

3. An uncurler guide according to claim 1, wherein the slot in the blade component has an eye at the top end thereof, and wherein th gauge element is in the form of a pin capable of being passed through the eye and having a diametrically-reduced medial portion to slidingly fit the straight portion of the slot.

CHARLIE ROBERT DE SHA.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Kneissler Feb. 27, 1945 Number 

